[hider=ILZE ISAROVA !]
[b]Name:[/b] Ilze Isarova

[b]Age:[/b] 26

[b]Appearance:[/b] Five foot nine (175cm), brown-haired, and unremarkable, Ilze's most notable attribute had once merely been that she's [i]clean[/i] and [i]put together[/i]. Her second most notable is an array of beauty marks smattered on her from head to toe. Now that Ilze hasn't seen the inside of a spa or salon in some time and has to resort to cutting her own hair (it's kept roughly above her shoulders) she leaves no real impression besides how ratty and gaunt she looks—but then, that's everyone these days. Ilze has a pale, heart-shaped face and big dark bug eyes with the kind of stare you'd expect of a shark, or a reptile behind glass. She's got a narrow, reedy build; a walking scarecrow.


[b]Background:[/b] [hider=CHILDHOOD]
For all her life, Ilze has felt as though she's watched the world from the other side of a thick pane of glass. Observing, not participating. Learning, not feeling. She knows that something about her experience isn't quite [i]right[/i], but it's never been a real point of distress. Just something to work around. A problem with a solution.

Ilze was born in the bay area, the youngest daughter of Latvian immigrants. Her mother: beautiful, distant, and out of the picture under unclear circumstances by the time Ilze turned six. Her father: a deeply anxious entomologist, brilliant at his work but unfit to handle people let alone children. Her older sister: an outgoing, vibrant young lady five years older than Ilze herself. This sister, Natalia, was more active in raising Ilze than their frazzled father was until she was killed in a drunk driving incident (Natalia, eighteen, was the intoxicated driver). 

Up until her sister's death Ilze relied on Natalia to model socially acceptable, [i]'good'[/i] behavior, as that sort of thing didn't come easily to Ilze otherwise. Most of Ilze's prowess in early social situations (making friends at school, joining clubs, charming teachers) came about as a direct result of her copying Natalia's every move and mannerism. Left to her own devices, Ilze had a grim and unsettling private life; she often stole (not out of necessity but boredom), could not be trusted around small animals (her father kept many live insect and arachnid specimens in their home; Ilze did not harm these, as she shared his fondness for them, but their neighbors' pets are a different story), and went through a brief fascination with starting fires that nearly cost them their kitchen. Natalia was far more aware of Ilze's behavior than their father ever was, and while she never knew what to really [i]do[/i] about it, she did spend a lot of her time vehemently redirecting Ilze's focus and trying to spark her interest in other, less harmful pastimes. 

So, little by little, ordinary girlhood fixations pushed Ilze's morbid hobbies to the back of her mind. Natalia passed on a penchant for makeup and clothes and pop media and boys, and by the time she went and got herself killed, Ilze was very good at pretending to be human. Meanwhile, their father's mental health declined rapidly after Natalia's passing. Always a man of few words in the past, he stopped talking altogether and fixated solely on writing for papers, articles, and textbooks in his field. Money had never been abundant before, but it became even tighter as their father struggled with leaving the house. As an older teenager, in order to make some money for herself and avoid her father altogether, Ilze loaded her schedule with reasons to be out of the house; sports (school and club), babysitting gigs, volunteer services, friends to chase around from sun-up to sundown, a summer job as a lifeguard. 
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[hider=ADULTHOOD]
Ilze grew into a respectable, well-liked woman. Her friendships were numerous to make up for how shallow they all were. Her relationships were pleasant but brief; she could never maintain interest in anybody for very long. Her work ethic remained as admirable as ever. The day she moved out was the last bit of contact she ever had with her father, and she's never felt inclined to reconnect with him. She only started small fires. She only kicked dogs when no one was looking. She patiently refrained from acting on her uglier impulses and, instead, kept herself busy with a routine of work and fitness and socializing. 

Ilze Isarova carefully pretended at her humanity. She had gotten very good at it.

Ilze went to SFSU for a degree in business administration. Through the connections of an at-the-time boyfriend she was able to move from a secretary job to a position as an executive assistant for the CEO of a tech start-up based in Los Angeles (which she found, ultimately, to be no different than her old secretary job save for the fancier title). As part of a very limited administrative team she was given broad and often unchecked access to sensitive financial information. A couple of years into the position she began to grow restless, irritable with the environment at work and at home. After ending things with her boyfriend ([i]Ilze was starting to find the marriage talk and family-planning unbearable, even after stringing him along for as long as she did[/i]) she began taking advantage of her limited oversight to fatten her pockets up quick with the intention of leaving once she could comfortably afford to relocate. Ilze was able to skim from fundraising efforts and routinely submitted fraudulent expense reports so that she could pocket the difference. 

An unannounced external audit was days away from pulling the rug on her embezzlement. Luckily for Ilze and unluckily for the rest of the world, Project Zero set in first. 

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[b]Personality:[/b]

( + )  FLEXIBLE PRAGMATIST
Ilze is organized, adaptable, and goal-oriented. A proper little logistician. She likes structure and routine, but she won't fall apart in their absence; rather, she's more likely to do whatever is necessary to establish that order herself. Ilze is very aware of her own capabilities as a person, including her strengths and her shortcomings and what she needs to do to best utilize or work around both. 

( + ) SUNNY-SIDE UP
In spite of everything, Ilze is an optimist. She's very [i]hope for the best, plan for the worst[/i]. Dwelling in negativity, uncertainty, or ennui is a waste of valuable time, in her eyes, and she'll often try to encourage others away from these tendencies as well. Why waste energy catastrophizing when you can actively work to improve a situation? There is, of course, [i]always[/i] a way to improve the situation—and if there isn't, then all efforts should be focused on [i]making[/i] one. No matter what, Ilze is convinced that there is always a way to come out on top. 

( • ) TWO-FACED
[i]Two-faced[/i] may be an uncharitable way to put it, but Ilze's certainly not forthright with strangers if she can ever help it. It's not always a bad thing, though; Ilze will typically keep her complaints and judgement to herself if it's for the sake of achieving a goal, and is not so shortsighted that she doesn't recognize the value in shutting her mouth and playing along to get what she wants in the long run. [i]She'd[/i] say she's just being a team player. A [i]professional.[/i] This behavior is as much of a con as it can be a pro. So long as her goals align with someone else's, she'll be a perfect teammate. 

( • ) CHAMELEON
Hand in hand with her above trait is the tendency not to meet others as she is but as who she feels she must be to make them act the way she wants. In times of danger and uncertainty, she relies initially on a fawning response until she better understands how to handle the matter at hand. She wants to be liked, but she will settle for being overlooked as a nonthreat for as long as it takes to plan ahead accordingly. 

( - ) OPPORTUNISTIC SNAKE
Truth be told, Ilze is a self-serving wretch. Cut loose from the familiar routine of civilized pre-Rot life, she now prioritizes her own survival above all else, even if it comes as a detriment to others. She'll cooperate with anyone that looks like her best shot at safety and support, but she'll just as easily abandon ship at the first sign that it's not working out the way she wants it to. Her wellbeing comes first, no matter the cost to others. 

( - ) IN COLD BLOOD
Though she's keenly perceptive, Ilze is completely unempathetic. This disconnect between herself and others is a trait she has always had, and while she's worked hard to learn to understand her peers, why they may act the way they do, and the appropriate ways to respond, Ilze has never felt any real connection or camaraderie with them. As such, Ilze rarely feels guilty for or ashamed of hurting others; often she even enjoys it, the same way a child might enjoy pulling the wings off of a fly. While she's gotten very good at putting up a kind front, nobody has ever mattered to Ilze as much she does to herself. 

[b]Skills:[/b]
CROWD-PLEASER — Despite how ugly of a person she is on the inside, Ilze's been killin' it at the Smalltalk and Pleasantries game her entire adult life. She's patient, an active listener, and can be sweet, witty, and fun when she feels the need to be. [u]This skill lends itself to team-building and cooperative efforts.[/u]

THE STOMACH FOR IT — Ilze has no issue with how disgusting and cruel violence can be. While the uncleanlines of it all might make her turn her nose up, it's not the yuckiness of an undead apocalypse that bothers her. The notion of inflicting harm against someone or something else doesn't disturb her either. While she'd rather avoid being the one to deal any blows (as this would better ensure her own safety), she has no problem getting her hands dirty if it's her last remaining option. [u]Ilze is unphased by violence and will not struggle with that aspect of the current setting. [/u]

BASIC FIRST-AID & CPR — Teenage Ilze made money on the side as a babysitter and over the summers as a lifeguard at a community pool, and she's been vain enough to go out of her way to maintain those certifications even as an office widget. Just to say she has them. Just to [i]brag.[/i] She isn't a medical professional, but she knows what to do in a pinch. [u]Ilze will be competent when handling medical emergencies.[/u]

LIFELONG LEARNER — As much as it hurts her pride to admit to it, Ilze is very well aware of how out of her element she is in the world today, and therefore very willing to wring the necessary lessons she needs to thrive out of anyone who can be convinced to teach her. She is not too egotistical to learn. As a matter of fact, she is [i]just[/i] egotistical enough to feel entitled to any knowledge that she lacks. She wants to know what you know. She feels you owe it to her. [i]Make with the teaching, already.[/i] [u]Ilze will actively work to learn any necessary skills that she currently lacks if the opportunity is presented to her.[/u]

[b]Equipment:[/b]
THE BAG — A duffel-style gym bag. 
THE BIC — One stolen BIC lighter. 
THE WATER BOTTLE — 32oz, metal. 
THE FIRST-AID KIT — A little plastic box with pre-packaged gauze, tape, bandaids, and alcohol wipes previously kept in the trunk of her car. 
THE....FOOD....? — Ilze's current provisions consist of one bag of Combos (baked cracker shell, the pizza flavored kind) and a container of tictacs (fresh mint, 3/4ths full). 

[b]Motivations:[/b]
HOLDIN' OUT FOR A HERO — Surely any day now someone will do something and that'll make it all better. Just, all of it. [i]Ilze[/i] won't be doing any of that, of course, but there's got to be someone else out there with a big enough, bleeding enough heart to try. She's just got to hold on a little while longer and this whole thing will blow over eventually, right?

PREY ANIMAL DESPERATION — Maybe this world is something worse than death, but Ilze is something less than rational when it comes to her own survival. She'll be the animal that gnaws its leg off to escape a trap. The one that eats its children in times of hardship. The ends justify the means, and the means will be whatever she feels it takes to keep herself alive.


[b]Flaws:[/b]
SCUMBAGGERY — Ilze is not a good person. Once upon a time she'd been able to hone and polish her Good Person Costume, an HR-approved guise of orderly niceness, but without the trappings of her old day-to-day that façade is no longer serving her the way it once had. Peel back the veneer and she is callous, self-centered, petty, and downright inhumane in the things she is willing to do for her immediate benefit. Some of it isn't even for survivals' sake; some of it is just [i]mean[/i]. In many ways she owes her ongoing survival to her own selfishness, but it's not a super power. Ilze is bound to struggle making lasting connections with other survivors due to her own rampant neuroticism, and won't be able to garner the sympathy that she relies on to manipulate others if they catch her when the smile slips or are able to call her on her bullshit just from observing her. 

DESK JOCKEY — Ilze is fit enough as a result of an active childhood and a desire to keep herself busy in her off time, but she's not buff and she's not a trained fighter. She leaned hard on cardio and mobility work and...that's about it. Besides all that, she worked behind a desk for much of the time. She has a strong desire to survive, but no practical survival skills to speak of.
[/HIDER]